Hoe



1,446,802 F. R. LEONARD HOE Feb. 27, 1923.

Filed May 2'7, 1921 2 sheets-sheet 1 a'wue wto'o Feb. 27, 1923. 1,446,802

' F. R. LEONARD HOE Filed Ma 27, 1921 2 sheets-sheet 2 V\\ mu Patented Feb. 27, 1923.

FAYETTE a. LEONARD, or HOQUIA'M,Z,WASHINGTO1.

7 non:

Application filed May 27,

as well .as, areciprocsitory motion so thatit'willlbe projected-quickly across the row of plants to cut-out the undesired growth and as quickly. withdrawn so that it will not ride against andfover the plants which are tobe retained as the, implement is drawn along the, row, i

The invention seeks further to provide an 'improved operating mechanism whereby the desired results may be obtainedeasily and, without imposing fatigue upon the operator. 1

Qther incidental objects will appear in the e course, of the following description and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in the claims following the description.

In :the drawings:

Figure 1'is, a,,perspeetive viewof'a culti'vator having my improved chopper applied. thereto,

Figurefl is'an enlarged side elevation of the chopper,

Figure?) is 'aghorizontal section of the same,

Figure 4:, is: a vertical section thereof, Figures?) is. adetail view of the upper end of the shank of thehoeand the pit- 7 man or. connecting rod attached. thereto, and

Figure 6 isnajdetail side elevation of a portion. of the cylinder :or, casing,

I i Thecultivator l-may be, of any well known or preferred type and as illustrated is-provided with cultivator beams 2 mounted upon which are cultivator shovels -3 which are adapted to throw loose earth up around the growing plants or to scrapesurplus soil therefrom, as may be, desired, and. as will followiromiuthe. position ofthe cultivator relativefto.theplants.. Near thev rear end ofeachi cultivator beam I secure thereon, the

1921. Serial no. 472,950.-

vertically disposed cylinder or" casing 45f which. issecure dtothe bean'r III-ya:'sti'ap o1 boxing 5 applied; to; the: beamand a se't screw 61nserted through the" wall ofi'thef boxingor strap so as to secure thecasing" or cylinder in any; desired position.\. The" ends "of the cylinder are closed by plugs "or capsf' which areprovided ceetian wan' openings through whichtheshanlr 8* oftl'ie hoe passes: The" cylinder is 'iflirtlier= pro-v vided in its upper portion-witlfaninclined; slot 9 in which plays a pin 10"- carried"by the'shank andprefe'rablyglfavingia roller 11 mounted thereon sof as to reduce frictionalthe wall of'the cylinder-to facilitate theasa wear. Openings 12 are formedthiough Y sembling of the pin 10with'thelshanl4r8;

the pinbeing provided with a perfdrated inner body 13 through whichfia fastening p n 1% is inserted, as clearly shown" .iniFi'g: ure 4:. An abutment disli 15*isalsofittd upontheflshank 8, below the pin 10and a spring '16 is coiled aroundthe shanl'rfbe tween the bottom of "the cylindernn'd Zea-id abutment, as clearlyshownifr Figure the spring being normally I expanded and consequently yieldably holding the shank'andth'e hoe in raised position: Intheiupperend of the shank; 8' a swivel pin or bolt 17 is of the shank' and the headof the pin is 18, th'e said 'pitman being offset'atits upper end as shownclearly in Figure 5,?soasto fit around the swivel 17 and depend there from .parallelwiththe' cylinder 4; and out of'contact therewith. The lower'end ot the pit'man 18 is pivoted to the upper-Nor rear end'ofj a shifting lever 19 which" is pro? vided' intermediate its ends withialongit ldifmlslo't 2O engaging'around one of the bolts 21 which secure-the boxing: or; strap 5fto the .beam2 while the lower or forward [end offth'e; said lever 19-is pivoted to onelend of a short link 22 depending therefrom and pivotedto the end of a foot lever 23. The foot lever 1 is, pivotally pmounted, upon a the beam- 2 upon, securing bolt 21*which aids in iasteningrthe strap or boxing 5 in place, the freeendjot the said lever extend.-

ing upwardly-to a point where it-may be conveniently-reached the operator from the seat24 of the'oultivator. 1 V

The. lower portion, of the shank 8, below the cylinder I or. casing 4, is rbent laterally as-showm at 25 'andis doubled uponit:

85 fitted andupon saidpin, between-the end a self so as to describe a substantially semicircular arc as shown most clearly in Figure 3, and from the end of the said are the shank is carried downwardly in a slight curve as shown at 26 so that its extremity,

when at rest, will be directed toward the rear of the Cultivator. About the extremity of the depending portion 26 of the shank is fitted a boxing or clamp 27 which is adjustab'ly secured to the shank by a set screw 28 and upon which is rigidly secured the blade 29. By shifting the clamp 27 longitudinally upon as well as circularly about the portion 26 of the shank the angle onset of the blade may be readily varied so that it will out into the plants in any desiredmanner.

The construction and arrangement of the several parts of the device being thus made known, it is thought the operation of the same will be readily understood. The cultivator is driven along the-row of plants in the usual manner and the shovels or cultivator blades 3 will operate constantly to loosen and turn over the surface soil, the chopper blades29 being held normally above and out of contact with the plants. When the driver. observes a growth of weeds which should be removed, he presses sharply upon the foot lever 23 and thereby swings the same about its pivot so that the lower end thereof is swung upwardly, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 2. This swinging movement of the foot lever Will be transmitted through the link 22 to the shifting lever 19 and through the same to the pitman v, 18 whichwill thereupon be drawn downwardly so as to depress the shank 8 and the blade carried thereby. As the hoe is thus depressed the crank pin 10 carried by the shank will ride against the lower wall of the slot 9 and will be thereby forced to turn in the {cylinder so thatthe shank and the hoe will be rotated as they descend, this motion being clearly indicated in FigureB. The blade will, therefore, be caused to swing forwardly and across the rowof plants in harmony with the forward travel of the cultivatorand will strike the plants and any soil which may be heaped about the same at the proper angle to cut readily through same without strain upon any of the supporting parts. At the end of the stroke, the operator releases the pressure upon the foot lever and the spring 16 at once expands so eashes It will be readily noted that my device is very easily operated, is direct acting, and will respond quickly to the actuating force. T he pin and slot mounting of the shifting lever 19 permits the said lever to slide forwardly as it turns about its pivotal support and this compound movenjient of said lever applies a very strong leverage to the blade at the instant of its contact with the plants and the operator is thus relieved of the necessity of applying additional and undue force to the foot lever as it nearsthe end of its stroke. lhe swivel connection ofthe pitman to the upper end of the shank relieves the shank of all twisting strain so'that any tendency of the parts to bind is eliminated and the cylinder or casing 4 may be set at any desired angle to the beam so as to glve a wide range of adjustment to the blade without necessitating any shifting ofthe levers and their connections out of parallelism with the beam. V V

Havingthus described the invention, what is claimed as'new is:

1. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a blade, yieldable means for normally supporting the blade 'above the ground, means for reciprocating the blade,

and means wherebyreciprocation of the blade will effect a swinging movement of the same about the yielda-ble supporting means. I

2. In a device for the purpose set forth,

the con'ibination of a vertically disposed shank having itslower portion projecting laterally and eccentrically and having its extremity slightly curved in a'vertical plane, a blade adjustable along and around said extremity, and means for actuating the shank whereby to swing the blade forwardly and downwardly.

3. In a device for the purpose set: forth,

the, combination of a vertically disposed casing, a shank slidably and rotatably fitted through said casing, a crank pincarried' by said shank intermediate the ends of the casing, a cam on the casing engaged by said crank pin, a hoe carried by the lower end of the shank, yieldable means acting upon the shank to hold it normally raised, and means acting on the shank in opposition to said yieldable means. r

4:. in a device for the purpose set forthg the combination of a vertically disposed casing having a cam in its upper portion,:a shank extending through said casing, a crank pin carried by said shankand engaging said cam. a hoe carried by the lower end of the shank, a spring disposed within the casing-and'acting on the shank to hold it normally raised, and means acting on'the upper end of the shank to depress the same. 5. In a device for the purposeset forth, the combination of a supporting frame, a I

shank disposed vertically upon'the frame,

masses. v i

' a crank pin carried by said shaft, a cam en'- gaged by said pin, means for yieldably holding the shank in raised position, azpitman having its upper end swiveled to the upperend of the-shank, a floating lever mounted upon the frame and pivotally attached to said pitman, and means for actuating said lever.

6. In a device for the purpose set forth, the combination of a supporting frame, a shank disposed vertically upon the frame, a hoecarried by, said shank, means for yieldably holdinglthe shank in raised position,a pitman swiveled to the upper vend of the shank, a floating lever pivote'dto said pit- 15 lever Will reciprocate the shank, and means 20 for rotating the shank as it is reciprocated.

:In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

FAYETTE E. LEONARD. {m3 

